The Perks of Saying Hello
by requiems dream
Summary: Law is a nerd who has a crush on Kid, the captain of his college soccer team who has never acknowledged Law's existence. One day he finally gets to meet him after falling down the bleachers, then he runs away from him. While he would like to forget what happened, he can't as this one event has now caused a long string of effects that test Law's fragile heart to its breaking point.
1. This Shy Fragile Heart

Note: Well, welcome to this tale that started as a drabble and has now turned into a tale full of angst. Anyways, I'm going to be cross-posting this from my A03 account because I figured why not?

Anyways, do keep the quote down below in the back of your mind as this story unfolds.

Enjoy~

* * *

"We accept the love we think we deserve."

-Stephen Chbosky, _The Perks of Being a Wallflower_.

* * *

Law flips to the next page in _The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy_ and adjusts his big thick rimmed gold glasses back on the bridge of his nose. He's currently sitting at the top of the bleachers of Radiant World University in the cold waiting for the soccer team to arrive for practice. Even though Law hates sports and would rather be curled up on a bean-bag reading a nice book, he can't resist spying on the hot captain of his universities soccer team. Ever since Law saw him on the first day of college he knew that he was in love as clichéd as that sounds.

Voices echo through the field and Law looks up from his book to see the soccer team arriving on the field, causing his poor fragile heart to stop beating. Every time he sees Kid it leaves Law completely breathless, his red hair tied back by a bandanna, amber eyes that shine with life, and the soccer uniform that hugs every single part of his muscular frame perfectly, hes just so perfect in his eyes. While Law looks like a really nice sack of potatoes that's on sale for 70% off, thick rimmed glasses, black t-shirt that's two sizes too big for his slim frame, a pair of jeans that are baggy against his long legs, and black hair that sticks out everywhere. He's a walking cliché for sure, but to Law the clothes are comfy and looking nice wouldn't matter much as no-one really talks to him besides his best friend Penguin. So, what chance does he have at his crush noticing him?

Sighing, Law continues to look at Kid with a sad smile, why does he chase after something that he can never have? He shouldn't stay here any longer, but his legs can't move, Law's far too love-struck right now in order to think of letting his sight wander away from Kid.

Then, by some sick twist of a falling bird hitting the president of the college Doflamingo in the face, Law see's Kid turn towards him and time decides to slow down. First, Law's face turns red, then his legs finally decide to move and grabbing his stuff he quickly makes his way down the bleachers only to trip half-way down. Law's eyes widen as the ground slowly grows closer to his face, this wasn't supposed to happen at all.

Just before Law ends up crashing down on the last step, a pair of warm strong arms catch him.

"You need to be more careful," Says Law's savior.

Slowly lifting his head up, Law's eyes meet green and then time begins to move again.

Kid is staring at him with a concerned look and Law's face is bright red he's sure of it. Staring this close to Kid is frying Law's brain, he can't think straight and why is he giving him such a tender reassuring look? Law doesn't deserve this, he can't have something that never showed him much of an interest to begin with.

"Are you okay? Do you need to go to the nurse's office?" Asks a still concerned Kid.

Law doesn't get a chance to answer, he breaks out of Kid's hold and runs off towards the school, not caring that he didn't bother to say thank you, he needs to find a bathroom fast. He needs to end this nightmare before it can grow any further, Law needs to be alone right now, away from Kid and away from a hopeless love.

* * *

By the time Law reaches the bathroom his legs ache from all the running he just did, but he doesn't care he needs to be alone right now and he needs his best friend. Opening the last stall door, Law locks it, sits his stuff down, and goes to sit in the corner farthest from the toilet which is to his left. Upon sitting down he fishes his phone out of his pocket and text's Penguin.

 _I'm in the bathroom, get over here now._

After he hits send, Law puts his phone back in his pocket and wraps his arms around his knees. He can't believe that he screwed up his first encounter with Kid, he always imagined meeting him in the hall after-school looking for help with something important and Law helps him with whatever it is. Then they would meet more after that, going to different places like the movies or the park, and just all kinds of dates. Things would be happy and sweet, yet none of that is going to happen now as far as Law is concerned since he fucked up. Tightening his arms around himself, Law places his head on his knees and tries to hold back his tears. Why is he so damn pathetic?

The sound of the bathroom door opens and footsteps approach Law yet he doesn't bother to lift his head up, he knows that Penguin is now here.

"Law? You in there? Open the door please."

Law removes himself from his curled up position yet he doesn't stand up, instead he crawls to the bathroom door and opens it from the ground. As soon as he unlocks the door Penguin shoves it open and the expression on his face only serves to make Law even sadder. His best friend is looking at him with worried concern, and a look of pure relief knowing that Law is okay. He really doesn't deserve a friend as kind as Penguin at all yet at the same time he does as so far he's the only person in his life who hasn't left him.

"Pen-" The sentence is never finished.

Penguin leans down to Law's level and his hands come up and remove Law's glasses, setting them to the side. Then said hands place themselves on Law's cheeks, warmth spreads through his body as Penguin rubs his thumb along Law's face.

"Law, what happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Penguin sighs, and leans forward to where his forehead is touching Law's, their breath's mingling with each-other.

"Law, talking about it will make you feel better, keeping it bottled up within you isn't going to take you anywhere at all it'll only make things worse," Penguin says softly.

Closing his eyes, Law re-accounts the event that took place.

"I was waiting for the team to arrive like usual, and once they arrived it didn't take long for Kid to notice me Pen, he actually looked in my direction for once. Then I panicked and ended up slipping on one of the bleacher's, causing me to fall and him to catch me," Law explains. "He asked if I was okay and the concern look he gave me was one I didn't deserve at all. Then I ran away because I couldn't take anyone looking at me the way he did, I don't deserve that kind of kindness at all, I'm just a pathetic person who doesn't deserve any kind of happ-."

Law's cut off as a pair of soft lips meet his, speaking the words that are too hard to speak, and causing the wall that Law had built in his mind to finally crumble. The tears come slowly at first then after a few seconds they're rushing like a river. Penguin move's his mouth against Law's despite the tears, and Law responds back slowly though not with love, but with need. Law needs this, he needs to be reminded that he's loved by someone, that he has someone to go to in times of need, and for just a few short minutes to feel like he's happy for once. Wrapping his arms around his best friend, Law sinks into the warmth offered and clings to him as his cries continue to be muffled by soft lips.

Once Law's tears finally stop, Penguin releases their mouths and then pulls Law to his chest.

"Let's go home Law," Says Penguin. "For just a short while let's just forget that the world exists."

Nodding his head as a yes, Penguin gently releases himself from Law and stands up. Reaching out a hand, Law takes it and Penguin pulls him up off of the dirty floor, grabbing his stuff, Law makes his way out of the bathroom hand in hand with Penguin. They don't speak any more words as they make their way out of the bathroom, as right now, words aren't going to heal a fragile heart.


	2. What We Deserve

Hello~ Here's the second part.

Enjoy.

* * *

The light of the TV brightens the dark room and Law pulls the blanket that's wrapped around him even closer. Once he and Penguin had finally arrived at Law's apartment, the very first thing he had done was go straight to the couch and curl up on his side. Then Penguin went and got him a blanket to put on him before he said he was going to go run a few errands and that he should be back within an hour. Well, it's been an hour and Penguin still hasn't returned, leaving Law to turn on the TV and watch old re-runs of Supernatural. It helps to get his mind off of Kid and the world for just a short while, though it doesn't always last for long.

Getting up off of the couch, Law lets his feet touch the soft carpet, causing the blanket to fall off of his shoulders. Now allowing his feet to guide him, Law walks towards his bathroom. He really doesn't like to do this at all, but what other options are there to put back a piece in his crumbling heart? Law reaches the bathroom door in a few seconds, opens it, steps inside, and turns on the light. Closing the door, Law then walks over to the bath-tub and begins to un-button his pants. Once he's finished with that, he takes them off along with his underwear, tosses both of them to the side, and his shirt follows shortly after. Taking off his glasses, Law gives them a quick glance then sets them down on the counter.

Now that he's standing naked in his bathroom, Law walks over to the full-length mirror and stares at his reflection. What he see's staring back at him is a man so helplessly in love that if anyone were to look at him they would laugh at how pathetic he was at chasing a love that he can never hope to dream of having. He looks away, Law can't stand to look at himself for too long as it just reminds him further of how much he's chasing after something he wants but at the same time he doesn't deserve.

Walking away from the mirror, Law heads over to the bath-tub and climbs in. The acrylic surface is cold against his bare feet, causing slight shivers to run down his spine, though despite the cold he must continue on. Turning so his back is facing the wall of the tub, Law sits down on the cold surface with his long legs bent up, feet on the ground, and his back resting against the curve of the tub.

Once he gets comfortable, Law closes his eyes and lets his imagination wander away from reality and into the fantasy world he's set up.

He imagines himself laying on his bed naked with his legs spread open and his hands tied to the mast with a red silk ribbon. Between his legs is a vibrator that's in the shape of a cock causing him to slightly twitch from the constant vibrations. There's also a cock ring sealing off his release causing him both pain and pleasure. The sight alone makes the blood rush to Law's cock fast and keeping the image in his mind, he reach's down and brushes the tip of his dick with his thumb. This simple motion causes small shivers to run through his whole body, how can he be so weak to something so simple?

The next scene that comes into Law's mind makes him release a groan. There in his mind sitting on a stool with his pale legs hanging off of the sides is Kid fucking himself with his fingers. Law lets out a moan and picks up his pace, the image is just really hot and sexy, it would be better to see it in real life, but that won't be happening any time soon.

Continuing on with the scene, Law lets his mind play out words that he hasn't heard in a very long time.

"You look beautiful Law."

A choked sob escapes from Law's mouth, and he stops jerking off to rub at his face with the back of his hand. Why did his mind form those words? It's just simple words, yet they hold a lot meaning, as the last person to tell him that he was beautiful was Cora.

Memories of his and Cora's time together comes rushing into Law's mind like a flower blowing in the wind, soft and warm. The first one that shows up is the time when they went out stargazing and where Cora told Law that he was the most important person in his life. Tears start to fall onto Law's cheeks yet the memories don't stop appearing; holidays together, going out to places, traveling, and all of the things from the short time in Law's life that he was happy.

The tears are now rushing out like a river and Law can't stop them no matter how much he rubs at his eyes. He wants the tears to stop so he can stop crying all the time, from being sad so much, and for someone to give him the same amount of happiness that Cora gave him.

Suddenly the bathroom door opens with a bang causing Law to jump in the tub and turn his tear stained face towards the door. Standing there is Penguin who's staring at Law with a very worried look that only serves to make him cry even more.

"Pen?" Law chokes out.

Not bothering to close the door, Penguin walks over to the tub and settles into the space that's not occupied. Law's not startled by this as it's happened many times before, though not like this where he's crying and still very hard. He can feel himself blushing and as a result he doesn't turn to face his best friend that is, until he's tackled into a hug. Warmth spreads through Law's body, after sitting in the cold for several long minutes it's very much appreciated. Law wraps his arms around his best friend, pulls him even closer, and buries his face in his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Law whispers.

Penguin squeezes him even tighter.

"You have nothing to be sorry for Law. It's just, I worry about you okay?"

"Then please stop worrying, I don't deserve it."

"I'll never stop worrying about you Law, you're my best friend and I care about you," Penguin says softly.

Law doesn't say anything and just continues to cry into his best-friends shoulder. Maybe, he really does deserve a friend like Penguin, even if half of Law thinks he doesn't.

Once Law's tears finally stop, Penguin pulls out of the embrace and places his hands on Law's face.

"Feeling better now?"

Law nods, he does feel a bit better but his heart is still broken.

Penguin gives him a smile.

"Good," He says.

Leaning forward, Penguin places a kiss on Law's forehead. It's soft, warm, and tender causing Law to flush from the kindness shown to him. Retracting from the kiss, Penguin gets out of the tub and goes to gather Law's discarded clothes. Law watch's him with a small smile on his face, he feels somewhat happy right now.

Once his clothes are gathered Penguin walks over to the toilet and places them on the seat.

"Hurry up and get dressed, I bought some beer which after today, you really need it."

"Alright," Responds Law.

Satisfied, Penguin walks to the door and closes it leaving Law on his own once again. Sighing, Law gets out of the tub and turns to his pile of clothes, picking up the shirt he puts that on shortly followed by his pants, and then finally his glasses. Once he's dressed he looks to the mirror one last time for the night, this time instead of a lovesick fool staring back at him, Law sees a man who needs all the kindness in the world hugging him until he can't breathe. Smiling, Law turns away from the mirror and goes to join Penguin in the living room.

* * *

Penguin has fucked up.

Well, it's not the bad kind of screw up, but more of the "I should've kept my eyes open better" kind of situation. After drinking his second beer Penguin went to use the bathroom while leaving Law to finish his first one under a cocoon of blankets. He was only gone for maybe 3 minutes and once he came out the fridge was open and there was Law drinking the last three beers. Now he's trying to pry his best friend off of him who is currently attacking his face with kisses, and has his wrists pinned down on the kitchen floor.

"Law, as much as I appreciate all the love, you're drunk right now and don't know what you're doing." Explains Penguin.

Law stops the kisses and gives Penguin a drunk smile. Damn, he looks so cute. No. Bad Penguin! Don't go down that route.

"I know what I'm doing Cora, besides, I'm not drunk silly."

Penguin can hear the sound of his heart breaking. He thinks he's Cora right now which in its own right is just sad, yet for Penguin what hurts even worse than Law thinking he's his dead ex-boyfriend is the fact that Law doesn't love him. For as long as Penguin can remember he's always been in love with his best friend, yet he's never found the courage to tell him this as Law is currently in love with Kid. Even if the two of them do often kiss each-other it's not out of love, but more out of the need to feel loved. Besides Law was the one who started the whole thing, and speaking of kisses, Law's back to attacking his face again.

"Law, stop this please! I'm not Cora, it's me your best friend, Pen-!"

Soft lips plant themselves onto Penguins effectively shutting him up.

Eye's going wide, Penguin stares into the closed ones of Law's, his eye-lashes are so long; brushing against his flushed cheeks like a feather and he's so pretty that it makes Penguin want to cry. However, Law's lips begin to move against Penguin's snapping him out of admiring his best friend and bringing him back to reality.

Law gives Penguins lips a lick, sending electric shocks down his spine. He really should not be enjoying this, Penguin needs to stop this before something happens that both of them will regret later on. Struggling against Law's hold on his wrists only serves to make him grip them tighter and add more licks to his lips in desperation for entrance to his mouth. Penguin needs to do something fast or else he's about to give in at any moment.

Then it finally hits Penguin to move his head to the side, which he immediately does and a tongue licks his cheek instead of his lips.

"Trafalgar D. Water Law! Please stop right now!"

Finally Law stops attacking his face and Penguin lets out a sigh of relief, least that's over with now he just has to get Law off of him. Turning back to face Law, Penguin is once again greeted by tears that are now splashing onto his face. He frowns, not again, haven't enough tears been shed already?

"Penguin?"

"Yes?" He responds.

"What did I do?"

Law's voice is etched with fear, this isn't good Penguin needs to calm him down.

"You drank more beer than you should've, and now you're drunk. Though that's beside the point here, you did nothing wrong Law, this situation is a result of drunkenness so there's nothing to worry about."

"Did I hurt you?"

Yes.

"No. You didn't hurt me or anyone Law okay?"

He sees the fear slowly to start to lift off of Law's face, and the tight grip on Penguin's wrists loosens. Now with the hands on his wrists not suffocating them, he breaks his right hand free and brings it up to rest on the back of Law's head. Threading his fingers into soft black hair, Penguin slowly brings Law's head to rest on his chest.

They stay like that for several minutes, enjoying each-other's warmth on the cold kitchen floor. As Penguin continues to play with Law's hair, he starts to hum a small song in the hopes that it will make Law fall asleep, as he needs it more than Penguin does.

"This cocoon, caught in Vesuvius shadow, only the ashes remain, and I waited there for you. Why couldn't you?" Penguin starts to sing, making Law curl up further on him.

He continues to sing the song until the very last line, and once he's done Law has fallen asleep. Sighing in relief, Penguin removes his hand from Law's head and brings his arm to wrap around him. Slowly getting up, Law lets out a groan and snuggles closer to Penguin who only squeezes him tighter.

With Law now in his lap, Penguin puts his other arm around Law's legs and he stands up. Carrying him bridal style, he walks down the short the hall to Law's room who only keeps on snuggling closer to him and causing his heart to ache even more.

Once they arrive in Law's room, Penguin lays Law down on his un-made bed and begins to pull the covers up only for a warm hand to reach out and grab his wrist.

"Stay."

Penguin smiles sadly, he really shouldn't after all that had happened earlier, but the voice Law used was pleading and how can he say no to the person who stole his heart? Letting himself be guided to the bed, Penguin gets on the mattress which creaks under the added weight, and lays down to where he's facing Law. His eyes are closed, which he is very grateful for or else Law would question the blush that's surely on his face right now.

Then, Law snuggles up to Penguin, and now he's positive his face is very red. Why is Law so warm, and why does he have to chase after a hopeless love? Making himself comfortable, he puts an arm around Law and stares at the wall, hoping that sleep will come to him eventually as well.

* * *

Yeah, that was chapter two. Also, the song that Penguin sings is called "Cocoon" by The Decemberists which I don't own and do give it a listen.

One more thing, I'll update when I can as college is fun.

Thanks for reading, and perhaps if you wish, leave a comment as well?


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